Safety of Our Youth

Safety of Our Youth 

By: Ainsley McCabe - YMCA Arlington - Washington Lee 

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, between the years of 2007 and 2016, school transportation-related crashes have killed 281 school-aged children (2018). That statistic does not even take into account the different injuries that can result from school transportation-related crashes including paralyzation, broken bones, concussions, and serious burns which can severely prohibit the activities children are able to partake in. Commonwealth Senate Bill No. 9 attempts to amend a section of the Code of Virginia relating to the regulation of seat belts in school buses. This bill will require that each new public school bus used to transport students will be equipped with a seat belt in every seat. 

After an incident that Olivia Fisher from Bethel High School (pictured on the left) heard of in which a school bus had flipped over into a ditch injuring multiple children, she decided to patron this bill to protect children by implementing seat belts in school buses. Fisher later explained that “I feel like it’s a safety precaution that we should add to this state.” During the debate over the bill, arguments stating that the number of children dying in school transportation-related crashes is too small to require a change in code were shot down by Fisher and other supporters of the bill. These other supporters included Senators such as McKaellen Wilkerson of Kenston Forest School (pictured on the right) who had experienced a school bus crash in her own town that involved many injuries including a preschooler’s broken collarbone.  

Wilkerson supports this bill and believes that this experience at Model General Assembly has given her a place to voice her opinions on this topic giving the reason that “This isn’t exactly my cup of tea, but when I’m here I feel like I’m a part of America.” Without this time at MGA, these students would not have had the opportunity to argue for what they believe in. This bill has been passed through the Senate and will continue on to the House and if passed through, it will end up on the Youth Governor's desk for final review. 

  

References 

Traffic Safety Facts. “School-Transportation-Related Crashes.” Fact Sheet. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Washington, D.C. January 2018. Web.